I just wanted to know if there are any rules/guidlines referring to non-hermetic magi in the core rulebook? I can't seem to find them, if they are there...
Short answer: No.
Long answer: No, but hedge traditions can be created using Supernatural Abilties in groups.
There are nonHermetic traditions decribed in most supplements, with A&A, HM:RE and the RoP books being the prime sources.
Fhtagn's answer sums it up. However, many of the hedge traditions not only combine one or more supernatural abilities (usually making them major virtues) they also require a major flaw that relates to the magic somehow. Cyclical magic, necessary conditions, etc are good examples. While the books mentioned above provide canonical hedge traditions, you do not have to be bound and can make a witch for an encounter based on hex, divining, cyclical magic, necessary conditions, and maybe a major magical focus such as fertility. All of this can be done out of the core book. Just think about what obstacles your want your PCs to encounter and ramp them up. If this is for a PC then I suggest going to the other books (A&A, HM, RoPD, RoPI, and OH: Societas) for deeper versions.
Not really. Although there are a few spells of Mercurian origin (Aegis of the Hearth etc.) that don't conform to Hermetic guidelines. It should also be noted that many of the non-hermetic traditions recommend using Hermetic guidelines for effects that aren't covered within their own (shorter) list of spell guidelines...
Plus, as already mentioned, many Hedge traditions use Supernatural abilities from the core book.
If you don't mind my asking, what exactly are you looking for?
I'm thinking of bringing a non-hermetic magus and his army against my players, and eventually I plan that they will fight him because he has demolished their covenant. So I just want to know what I can work with.
So if I were to build a system for using non-hermetic magic (only out of the core rulebook), how would it work? Should I assign a might score, and use powers like magical creatures? How will he advance?
Salvete, Sodales!
I will give it a try, but basically I'd recommend to buy at least Hege Magic, as this book specifically deals with non-hermetic magical traditions which come at least close to the power of hermetic magic. But actually all traditions mentioned there don't stand a chance in direct violent conflict with hermetic magic. Some might do the job, if the hedgie is significantly older than the player characters or extremely specialised in combat spells, but basically these traditions mostly produce rather low casting totals and don't have anything comparable to the Parma Magica, so in mage on mage fights (or worse: one hedgie on a party of hermetics) my money would be on the order's youngsters. You can change this, but this wouöld significantly change the background setting.
You can circumvene this by giving the hedgie a different supernatural background as holy man or infernalist. Both realms could offer Magic Restistance, and even though these characters ususally don't generate high casting totals either, they still can become dagerous, either, because they have the organized power of the church at their back, or because some demons help them. In these cases I resommend the appropriate 'Realms of Power' book.
But if you really just want to build a non-hermetic without any supplements I'd do it like this. Construct him as a Mythic companion. This means that he gets one minor virtue for free and can take up to ten points of flaws just like any companion but is compesated for them with twice the amount of virtues. Apart from that he is just built like a companion. You should give him various supernatural virtues and sink enough XP into them. Such a hedge mage can be quite powerful, but still is no match for a hermetic, but perhaps with the help of some cunning, a good penetration skill, thorough preparations and the theft of appropriate arcane connections he might become a threat.
I hope this helped you.
Vale,
Alexios ex Miscellanea
Depending on how big a role the villain's powers are going to play in the Saga.
Designing the character with a Might Score is certainly one option and may even be the most attractive if he'll be facing the characters personally since he'll have Magic Resistance.
Designing a Mythic Companion as Alexios suggests is another option, or you could design the character as a Gifted Companion (Hedge Wizard Flaw, The Gift and couple of Free Supernatural Abilities). Unfortunately, both of these options are a bit less useful if you only have access to the Core Books.
You might be well served by designing your own Supernatural abilities. Since the character will be (presumably) be an NPC, you don't have to worry too much about game balance either...
~ Gremlin44
Alternatively, you could simply create the character using the Hermetic magic rules, maybe following the guidelines for creating a magus Ex Misc. After all, it's not as if the method of creating the character matters too much as long as it gives you what you need, right? However, I would suggest making him ultra-specialised in one Form to reflect the fact that his magic is non-Hermetic (Tim the Enchanter always springs to mind at this point), and assign suitable Flaws and Virtues that emphasise the weirdness of his magic. It would also be an idea to emphasise how his magic looks different in your descriptions. Perhaps he waves trinkets when he casts spells in some ancient, unknown tongue, or perhaps he sings or sacrifices chickens; you get the idea.
I hope that this helps.
OK, so this is what I came up with.
[size=150]Cade[/size]
Size: 0
Age: 30 (30)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Twilight Scars: None
Might Score: 15 (Corpus)
Characteristics:
INT 0
PER 0
STR 0
STA 0
COM 2
PRE 1
DEX 0
QUI 2
Virtues:
- The Gift
- True Faith
- Death Prophecy
- Guardian Angel
- Dowsing
Flaws:
- Necessary Condition (Praying)
- Hatred (The order)
- Enemies (The order)
- Poor
Personality Traits:
- Brave 2
- Hateful 3
- Loyal -2
Reputations:
- Enemy of the Order 1 (Hermetic)
Abilities:
Athletics (acrobatics) 2 [15]
Arabic (dialects) 5 [75]
Brawl (dodging) 2 [15]
Concentration (in combat) 3 [30]
Dowsing (magic) 3 [30]
Etiquette (nobility) 3 [30]
Leadership (rallying) 5 [75]
Lore: The Order of Hermes (personalities) 3 [30]
Penetration (auram) 3 [30]
Ride (speed) 2 [15]
Single Weapon (long sword) 2 [15]
Swim (distances) 2 [15]
Combat:
Long Sword INIT 4 ATK 7 DFN 6 DMG 6
Armor: Heavy Leather (Prot. 2 Load 3)
Soak: 7
Wounds: -1(1-5) -3(6-10) -5(11-15) Inc.(16-20) Dead(21+)
Fatigue: -1, -3, -5, U
Equipment: Travel clothes, long sword, religious items, travelling gear.
Encumbarance: 2 (2)
Powers:
Shock Wave (5 points, 4 Init., Auram)
Cade claps his hands, and a violent gust of wind errupts from him in a 10 foot arc. All in its range must make a size stress roll of 5+ to avoid flying away. Cade may decide to target objects to make them fly away. A size check is needed as usual. He may also decide to target held objects, in which case a strength check of 5+ is needed by the holder.
Talons of the Wind (7 points, 3 Init., Auram)
Cade makes a slashing motion through the air, sending bursts of air to a single target. Soft materials are shredded to bits, and the individual himself (or his clothes/armor) recievs +5 damage.
Aura of Inspiration (0 points, constant, Mentem)
All of Cade’s allies within 10 feet of him receive +3 to personality rolls, and all of his foes in that area receive –3.
Appearance: Cade is at an average hight, slightly skinny. He has piercing blue eyes, black hair and a matching black skin. He is dressed in sturdy boots, long dark cloth pants, a grey tunic with a big leather belt. He has a hooded black cloak on his shoulders, and a sword and many other magical and religious symbols hanging from his belt.
Story:
Cade was born in the city of Oran in northern Africa. He spent his earlier days wandering the city’s many markets and streets. At the age of 6 he met a travelling shaman, who found his magical abilities, and took him away and started training him. They spent several years together, travelling and practicing magic, when they encountered some magi. When the magi saw them, they opened fireand killed Cade’s master. Cade himself ran away, swearing to one day come back and avenge his master’s demise. As he wondered his lands, he never lost faith, the same faith that his father taught him. One day, an angel came down from the heavens and told him that because of his undying faith, his god decided to give him a prophecy, and the prophecy was that he would die because of a dragon someday in the future, but that he should have no fear untill that time, since his quest is a holy one and it will succeed. To aid him in his quest, he was given Alluriah, a guardian angel. Since that day, Cade is gathering an army to help him bring down the order of hermes.
Comments, please.
Seems pretty weak as an order enemy... with 15 MR, and no other power, he would not resist a call to slumber or other pilum of fire, and his soak is bad.
Yes, he can't die (death prophecy)... he will just be cut in parts, locked down under a mountain or drowned in a coffer in the sea.
Yes, He isn't strong, but he really isn't meant to be. He isn't that big an enemy. He is just a non-hermetic magus who has a never-ending grudge against the order. Plus, the troupe is consisted of young magi and companions, so he really shouldn't be super-strong. Also, he is supposed to be a recurring villian. Do you think I should make him stronger?
Oh, BTW: he has a magical resistance of 40. 15 for the might score, another 15 from guardian angel and another 10 from the faith point, so I think he's stronger than you think.
Cade is a bit "Off" if you go by the rules found in the various suppliments, but he's certainly not unworkable as an NPC-type character.
I did notice that Cade doesn't appear to have the proper allotment of XP for a 30 year old character. In particular, he doesn't have a free Native Language or the 45 XP in childhood skills that he's entitled to.
As made, he could be dangerous foe if he sticks to hit and run attacks targetting grogs with his attack powers and possibly with the aid of some mundane allies (archers are good as they can attack from from beyond voice range and thus are immune to many common combat spells ie. Pilum of Fire).
Yes he does.
He is built with a total of 375 exp. If we take into account the 75 exp from the naitive language, the other 45 from the childhood, and another 5 from dowsing, we are left with 250 exp. Since he recieves only 10 exp/year because of his Poor flaw, then he is built from exactly the right amount of exp.
What do you mean by "Off"?
What other powers should he have, if any?
First thing I would say is to do with the Magic Might. Humans don't have a Might score, consequentially anything with a Might is not human.
Secondly, no hedge wizards have general magic resistance, which is what a Might score offers. There are exceptions - True Faith grants general MR, as do some infernal powers; but no magical or faerie means does this other than the parma magica. This is part of the Order's backstory - it is the best, because it offers universal protection against supernatural effects without needing to sell your soul or be a living saint.
However, Cade does have True Faith, so gains Magic Resistance equal to Faith x 5. He doesn't actually need a Might score at all -- but he could benefit from a high Faith score. Note that he is particularly good in the Dominion - his MR is increased by the aura, but the Penetration of any Hermetic opponent is decreased by 3 x aura. The opposite is also true.
If you wanted to boost his MR without boosting his Faith, I suggest that maybe he only has MR against a certain type of magic, or a restricted group of Forms. These in themselves could be Abilities like Parma - so he has an Ability called Corpus Resistance, which gives him a bonus to MR equal to 5 x the score against Corpus magics. (This could be incorporated into the spells/powers suggestion I mention below, with resistance of this type being another spell)
I would give him a social status Virtue equivalent to Hermetic Magus (i.e. a free Virtue) which allows him to learn magical abilities of his tradition. Else you have difficulty explaining why your magi can't learn the powers he has. This Virtue includes some sort of training, so you can add extra xp to spend on spells, and magic resistance.
The costings of these powers seem a little random. For magical critters, the Might cost is either the equivalent Hermetic magnitude, or half the magnitude, depending on whether you want the power to be used lots of times per day and have a high penetration, or you want it to be his big finish spell. Likewise, the Initiative is usually his (Qik - magnitude), or (Qik - magnitude)/2.
However, if you want him to be a human - and thus no Might score - you could consider these powers to be Abilities instead. Each time he uses them, he must make a Characteristic + Ability roll, against an Ease Factor related to the power of the effect. So the Shock Wave effect could rely on his Strength, whereas the Aura of Inspiration is based on his Presence. The Penetration Total is equal to the amount by which he exceeds the ease factor, plus his Penetration Bonus (calculated in the usual manner). You might want to charge fatigue for spell use, but this would limit his power.
The advantage of this sort of system is that he will grow as the campaign does, if you want him to be a long term villain. He can use experience points to increase the power of his spells (and his MR, if you use my suggestion above), and learn new spells; to keep him apace with the PCs. If you think he is underpowered, his spells could be Accelerated Abilities (that is, they advance like Arts rather than Abilities), so he can learn them much quicker.
All this aside, the character you've written up has a nice story, and is certainly a workable antagonist for a saga even without these alterations. And I would stress again - if you are happy with his power level, then you can ignore all these suggestions.
As a final note, for a holy avenger character like this you would do well by getting your hands on Realms of Power: The Divine. It has a great set of rules for evoking God's aid (granting a +1 to +3 bonus for a given endeavour), asking for miracles (difficult, unless you have True Faith, which he does), and exhorting saints (which is an easier way of getting miracles, but they are saint-specific).
It also has a complete system for creating wielders of miraculous powers.
Mark